Video: Rose Fernandez, Parent, State of Wisconsin

Rose Fernandez and I were talking this morning. She is a parent in Wisconsin who has a pretty compelling story to tell. After legislators bowing to union pressure closed a virtual charter school there, she rallied local parents in only five days and got that decision reversed.

She later ran for public office and got the local union and anti-charter folks to spend over a million dollars to defeat her. Kind of interesting, when you consider that she’s never had any political experience, and is a nurse by training and career.

She’s a big proponent of blended learning, online learning, and virtual charters. Here’s her thoughts on why parents are a great lever for education reform in America. And why there needs to be more of them at conferences like #VSS2010.

Hear, Hear. So glad to have Rose as a spokesperson! Not all parents are able to, or want to, take the responsibility to oversee their child’s education – but it is still ultimately the parents’ decision, and the parents must stay involved and be respected.